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  • The SEMI-FINALISTS for the 2018 CHAUCER Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction (CIBAs)

    The SEMI-FINALISTS for the 2018 CHAUCER Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction (CIBAs)

    • Pre 1750 Historical Fiction AwardThe CHAUCER Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of  Historical Fiction set before the 1750s. The Chaucer Book  Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards (#CIBA).

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is seeking for the best books featuring Pre-1750s Historical Fiction, including pre-history, ancient history, Classical, world history (non-western culture), Dark Ages and Medieval Europe, Renaissance, Elizabethan, Tudor, 1600s, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (Looking for Goethe Post 1750 contest or Laramie Western/Pioneer/Civil War contest?)

    These Semi-Finalists will compete for the coveted five positions of the First  Place Category Winners of the 2018 CHAUCER Book Awards in the final rounds of judging.  The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the CHAUCER GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition.  The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington.

    These titles are in the running for the limited First Place positions of the 2018 CHAUCER Book Awards novel competition for pre-1750s Post Historical Novels.

    Good luck to all in these next final rounds of judging to see which titles will move forward.

    CONGRATULATIONS to the 2018 CHAUCER Book Awards SemiFinalists:

    • Nicole Evelina – Mistress of Legend (Guinevere’s Tale Book 3)
    • Jehan d’Elleby – Lanz & Gwenhevre: Love Against the Tide
    • Prue Batten – Michael – Book 3 of the Triptych Chronicle
    • Edward Rickford – The Serpent and the Eagle
    • Bernard Mann – David & Avshalom — Life and Death in the Forest of Angels
    • Gregory Hansen – Pelsaert’s Nightmare
    • P.K. Adams – The Greenest Branch, a Novel of Germany’s First Female Physician
    • Helena P. Schrader – Rebels against Tyranny: Civil War in the Crusader States
    • Eileen Stephenson – Imperial Passions – The Porta Aurea
    • Robert Wright – King David’s Lost Crown, first of the Before They Awaken Trilogy
    • Anna Belfrage – Under the Approaching Dark
    • Kate Murdoch – Stone Circle

    All Short Listers and SemiFinalists will receive high visibility along with special badges to wear during the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala.

    Good Luck to each of you as your work competes for the 2018 CHAUCER  Book Awards First Place positions and the CHAUCER 2018 Grand Prize.  

    To view the 2017 CHAUCER Book Awards winners, please click here.

    The CHAUCER Grand Prize Winner and the First Place Category Position award winners will be announced at the April 27th, 2019 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash. 

    CHAUCER Grand Prize Award Winners Catherine T. Wilson & Catherine A. Wilson

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2019 CHAUCER Book Awards writing competition. The deadline for submissions is June 30th, 2019. Please click here for more information. 

    As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com. 

  • The ONE APART by Justine Avery – Family Saga, Fantasy, Metaphysical/Visionary

    The ONE APART by Justine Avery – Family Saga, Fantasy, Metaphysical/Visionary

    A perfect blend of realism, fantasy, and deep spirituality awaits those who open Justine Avery’s novel, The One Apart. It is what readers bring to the novel – faiths, belief systems, philosophical dilemmas – that will influence and shape their perceptions of this fascinating and compelling read. Avery’s book, like life, is full of instruction for those who want to be fully aware.

    Aware of what?

    Everything—including awareness itself.

    This is certainly the case for the main character, Aaron, a remarkable boy who lives with his mother, Sancha, and his grandmother, Maria. Although she’d planned to give Aaron up for adoption, Sancha bonds so deeply with her son at birth that she can’t fathom life without him. His grandmother realizes his uniqueness, too, as the newborn communicates with her through blinking his eyes. He makes astonishing progress through developmental milestones, walking and reading within the first months of life.

    As a toddler, he speaks with the wisdom of a timeless soul. Maria suspects that these physical and mental feats indicate that her grandson is chosen for a special purpose, but she hopes he’ll live as normal a life as possible. He’s distracted, however, by a malevolence that only he can see.  As Aaron comes of age, he strives to act normal and blend in, but his very few close friends and girlfriend notice his preoccupation, his never being fully present in this world.

    There’s a reason for Aaron’s constant distraction, for his never feeling a part of this life; he is connected to “the Apart,” the other-worldly dimension that is both removed from human existence, “corporeality,” but ever at hand. Since childhood, he has sensed that his true name is Tres and that his existence as Aaron is somewhat play-acting. His hyper-awareness alerts him to his “OnLooker,” a sort of guardian angel who’s a liaison between Aaron and the sagacious luminary beings of the Apart that consult and advise on Aaron’s tutelage.

    Much of the book involves Aaron learning, with the instruction of his OnLooker, how to fully experience awareness, to understand that every moment is this moment despite previous lives and the variety of life’s experiences. At a critical juncture in the novel, Aaron is given a choice, one that will impact his own existence dramatically but also that of all other beings. The author adroitly merges Aaron’s worldly existence and his relation to the realm of the Apart in a poignant and satisfying conclusion to the novel.

    This is a quiet book, one that allows the reader the time and space to experience life with its main characters. The stillness is at times deeply peaceful, at other times eerie and ominous. The novel illustrates the power of compassion and empathy, but also the chilling consequences when power is exercised for self-serving purposes.

    While the character of Aaron has similarities to various religious and mythic figures, the author has also imbued him with a uniqueness and a relevance to our times. This book will stay with you long after you finish it, a hallmark of excellent literature. Justine Avery’s The One Apart inspires deep contemplation of self, community, and individual and collective purpose.

     

     

    The One Apart won First Place in both
    OZMA and SOMERSET Awards in 2017!

     

     

     

     

  • The CLUE Book Awards (CIBAs) for Suspense/Thriller/Crime Novels – The 2018 Shortlist

    The CLUE Book Awards (CIBAs) for Suspense/Thriller/Crime Novels – The 2018 Shortlist

    Thriller Suspense Fiction AwardThe CLUE Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Suspense, Thriller, Crime, & Mystery Novels. The CLUE Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

     

     

    Information about the #CIBAs Long Lists and Short Lists and Announcement Rounds.

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2018 Long List (aka the Slush Pile Survivors) to the SHORTLIST.  These entries are now in competition for the 2018 CLUE SEMIFINALISTS  positions.

    The coveted First  Place Category Winners of the 2018 CLUE Book Awards will be selected from the Semi-Finalists in the final rounds of judging.  

    The First Place Category Winners will be announced at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony. The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the CLUE GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition.  The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington.

    These titles are in the running for the SEMIFINALIST positions of the 2018 CLUE Book Awards novel competition for Suspense, Thriller, Crime, and Mystery Novels.

    The Official 2018 CLUE Book Awards SHORTLIST:

    • Lauren E. Rico – Reverie (Reverie Trilogy, Book 1)
    • Pamela Beason – The Only One Left
    • Timothy S. Johnston – The War Beneath
    • Saralyn Richard – Murder in the One Percent
    • Timothy Burgess – California Son
    • Philip Derrick – Facing The Dragon
    • Cheryl L. Reed – Poison Girls
    • E. V. Stephens – Shortcuts
    • Nick Airus – The Manifesto Murders
    • Lawrence Verigin – Beyond Control
    • John Young – The Nexus
    • Melodie Hernandez –Forgotten Rage
    • CL Gibson – The Urge
    • Kara Lumbley – As the Ribbons Fall
    • Chief John J. Mandeville – Pine Village Co-op Murders
    • Zach Fortier – Chakana
    • Nicholas Kellum – Briar Falls
    • Kara Wolfe – Number Four
    • Elaine Williams Crockett – Do Not Ask
    • Carl and Jane Bock – Swamp Guide
    • Karen Dodd – Scare Away the Dark: A Stone Suspense
    • Dan M Portillo – The Lone Escapist
    • Kelly Oliver – FOX, A Jessica James Mystery
    • John Stafford – Prayer of Vengeance
    • Susan Wingate – The Death of Vultures
    • Ernesto H Lee – Out of Time
    • Elizabeth Crowens – Dear Mr. Hitchcock
    • Paul McHugh – The Blind Pool
    • Marilynn Larew – Hong Kong Central
    • Ken Malovos – One Night In Amboise
    • Lyle Howard – A Trace of Revenge

    All Short Listers and SemiFinalists will receive high visibility along with special badges to wear during the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala.

    Grand Prize Ribbons!

    The CLUE Grand Prize Winner and the First Place Category Position award winners will be announced at the April 27th, 2019 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash. 

     

     

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2018 CLUE  Book Awards writing competition. The deadline for submissions is September 30th, 2019. Please click here for more information. 

    As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com. 

  • PARANORMAL Book Awards (CIBAs) for Supernatural Fiction – the 2018 Long List

    PARANORMAL Book Awards (CIBAs) for Supernatural Fiction – the 2018 Long List

    Paranormal Fiction AwardsThe PARANORMAL  Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of  Paranormal and Supernatural Fiction. The Paranormal Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The #CIBAs).

     

    Information about the #CIBAs Long Lists and Short Lists and Announcement Rounds.

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2018 Long List (aka the Slush Pile Survivors).

    These entries are now in competition for the 2018 PARANORMAL SHORT LIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. The coveted First  Place Category Winners of the 2018 PARANORMAL Book Awards will be selected from the Semi-Finalists in the final rounds of judging.  The First Place Category Winners will be announced at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony. 

    The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the PARANORMAL GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition.  The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington.

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2018 PARANORMAL Book Awards novel competition for Paranormal and Supernatural  Fiction.

    The Official  2018  PARANORMAL Book Awards Long List:

    • Christine Grabowski – Dickensen Academy
    • T. L. Augury – Witches Brew
    • Vince Bailey – Path of the Half Moon
    • K.A. Banks – Anthesteria
    • A. P. Caruso – Open Clarity
    • Gina Detwiler – Forsaken
    • Lydia Staggs – Zera
    • Jeny Heckman – The Sea Archer
    • Nick Korolev – The 13th Child
    • Franklin Posner – Suburban Vampire Ragnarok
    • Linda Watkins – Storm Island: A Kate Pomeroy Mystery
    • Elaine Williams Crockett – Do Not Ask
    • M. Goldsmith and A. Malin – The House of Fire
    • John Byron – Blood and Moonlight; The New Methuselah
    • Glen Shipherd – Infinity – Rulers
    • London Clarke – The Meadows
    • Joy Ross Davis – Peaches and Lace
    • BJ Kurtz – Shattering Boundaries
    • Joy Ross Davis – Countenance
    • C.A. Larmer – Do Not Go Alone (A Posthumous Mystery 2)
    • Anne Francis Scott – Lost Souls
    • Gurpreet Kaur Sidhu – Storm: It’s a curse to remember
    • Claudia Herring – Obsessions of a Djinni
    • Joy Ross Davis – Emalyn’s Treasure
    • C.A. Larmer – Do Not Go Gentle
    • Joy Ross Davis – The Madwoman of Preacher’s Cove
    • D.B. Sieders – River Spell
    • D.B. Sieders – Raising the Dead
    • J. L. Middleton – Operation Blackout
    • Ramcy Diek – Storm at Keizer Manor
    • Ryan J. Lyons – Sojourn with the Sasquatch: A Memoir of Five Months Spent Living Among the North American Apes
    • Olivia Bernard – The Balance and the Blade
    • Elizabeth Crowens – Dear Mr. Hitchcock
    • Joy Ross Davis – The Witch of Blacklion
    • Andrea Murray – Something New

    To view the 2017 Paranormal  Book Awards winners, please click here.

    The Paranormal Grand Prize Winner and the First Place Category Position award winners will be announced at the April 27th, 2019 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash. 

    Avanti Centrae is the author of the international award-winning VanOps thriller series. The Lost Power took home a PARANORMAL grand prize ribbon at CIBA 2017. Her work has been compared to that of James Rollins, Steve Berry, Dan Brown, and Preston/Child’s Pendergast series. She resides in Northern California with her family and German Shepherds. Avanti is represented by Parkeast Literary Agency.

    We are now accepting entries into the 2019 Paranormal Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction. For more information, please click here.

  • Villains and Antagonists – Know the Difference and Don’t Confuse Them – Writing Toolbox Series by Jessica Morrell

    Villains and Antagonists – Know the Difference and Don’t Confuse Them – Writing Toolbox Series by Jessica Morrell

    Antagonists are the main force that shapes the protagonist’s character arc.

    Sometimes the antagonist isn’t as important as the protagonist; in some stories, the antagonist is a threat so potent that he/she shapes the trajectory and tone of the story. 

    But let me clarify before we go further:

    The antagonist isn’t necessarily a bad guy or villain, though he/she can be.

    Is Darth Vader an Antagonist? or a Villain? or Both?

    A villain is a subset within the antagonist role,  identified by his values, morals, and methods, along with direct antipathy toward the protagonist.

    The villain is the most potent threat to the protagonist and perhaps even to the antagonist.

    A villain’s actions will always have huge ramifications and create hardships and danger. A villain in the story means it has a darker tone and aura.

    The antagonist doesn’t have to be a villain in the story.

    Editor’s Example: a great example of the statement above are the characters in The Fugitive storyline by author David Twohy starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.

    Richard Kimble, the wrongly accused doctor who was charged with murdering his wife, is the protagonist. He escapes while being transported to prison to receive the death penalty. Kimble believes that he is the only person who can prove his innocence of the crime.

    The protagonist’s antagonist is the unrelenting US Marshall Samual Gerard who is intent on doing his job of tracking down an escape who was convicted for murder. He is relentless in his pursuit of Kimble, but he is not a villain, but he sure makes Kimble’s life a nightmare.

    The villain is the true murderer of Kimble’s wife – the elusive one-armed man named Sykes.

    U.S. Marshall Gerard is not a villain. he is the one that is doing his job and chasing down the escape convicted murderer, Kimble, making Kimble a wanted outlaw fugitive on the run. The villain, Sykes, is always lurking trying to kill Kimble before he is exposed as the murderer of Kimble’s wife (and probably to fulfill his contract). The clock is ticking.

    The Differences between Villains and Antagonists

    The Villain

    The main difference between villains and antagonists is that the villain’s presence in the story will always cause fear and apprehension in the reader. If the reader is not afraid of him/her, then the character is not an effective villain. Fear in humans is much more complex and unsettling than it is in animals. It has many degrees, physical reactions, and can be linked with other emotions that are activated while reading. Fear is unpleasant and yet thrilling, and a villain’s role in the story is to stir these emotions to the boiling point.

    The Antagonist

    The antagonist is the person who forces your protagonist to change in the way he or she most needs to change. Antagonists are the main force that shapes the protagonist’s character arc. They teach the protagonists the lessons needed to grow and they accomplish this via conflict and opposition.

    Here are some suggestions for writing the all-important antagonist:

    Introduce the antagonist with flair. From the first words, this character must be memorable, charismatic, and intriguing.

    The first quarter of your story sets your antagonist in motion. This means his or her first moves create consequences and a messy aftermath. These actions further push the plot rolling along or set up the rising action–events leading up to the climax.

    The antagonist also exists to reveal as much about the protagonist as possible, showcasing the protagonist’s primary traits in events that force him to act in specific ways. So while revealing the protagonist’s flaws and weaknesses, the antics of the antagonist also reveal his strengths and over the course of story events serves as the catalyst that reshapes the protagonist’s self-concept. The main antagonists in the Harry Potter series–Malfoy and Snape—and Voldemort is a villain and an antagonist—are great examples while Voldemort’s death-eaters are villains.

    The antagonist also exists as a contrast to the protagonist, to provide an opposing or at least different morality, viewpoint, and values. When an antagonist starts messing with your main character, then questions arise: Will the protagonist rise to the occasion, muddle through despite doubts and misgivings, falter, or succeed despite flaws and fears?

    The more potent your antagonist, the more you need to know what makes him or her tick. As in backstory, motives, and goals. All need to add up to a seemingly unstoppable, unbeatable force and serious opposition.

    You are setting the stage for a showdown or stand-off between the antagonist and protagonist. This is the major component of rising action.

    You can create more than one antagonist. A good example of this is found in The Fault in our Stars. It has three: cancer and its grim realities, Peter van Houten, an author who has lost his daughter to cancer and wrote a novel about it, and Augustus Waters who shows Hazel how to love and really live with a fatal illness.

    They all force Hazel, the protagonist, to rethink her values, outlook, and concerns. In other words, they force her character arc to unfold.

    Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart. ~ Jessica

    Jessica Page Morrell
    Jessica Page Morrell

    Jessica Page Morrell is a top-tier developmental editor and a contributor to Writer’s Digest magazine, and she teaches Master Writing Craft Classes at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that is held annually along with teaching at Chanticleer writing workshops.

    Jessica will teach  Master Writing Classes and advanced writing craft sessions at CAC19. Click here to learn more.  

    Jessica understands both sides of the editorial desk. She is known for explaining the hows and whys of what makes for excellent writing and for sharing very clear examples that examines the technical aspects of writing that emphases layering and subtext. Her books on writing craft are considered “a must have” for any serious writer’s toolkit. For links for her writing craft books, please click on here.

    Chanticleer Reviews and OnWord Talks will interview Jessica for more of her writing tips and advice. Stay tuned! ~ Chanticleer (who hails from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales).

     

     

  • The SEMI-FINALISTS for the 2018 DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction

    The SEMI-FINALISTS for the 2018 DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA FictionThe Dante Rossetti Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Young Adult Fiction. The Dante Rossetti Book  Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards (#CIBAs).

     

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience between the ages of about twelve to eighteen. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian, Mystery, Paranormal, Historical, Romance, Literary, we will put them to the test and choose the best Young Adult Books among them.

    These Semi-Finalists will compete for the coveted limited positions of the First  Place Category Winners of the 2018 Dante Rossetti Book Awards in the final rounds of judging.  The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the Dante Rossetti GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition.  The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington.

    These titles are in the running for the limited First Place positions of the 2018 Dante Rossetti Book Awards novel competition for Young Adult Fiction.

    All Semi-Finalists will be recognized at the 2019 Chanticleer Authors Conference and CIBA Banquet & Ceremony.

    Good luck to all in these next final rounds of judging to see which titles will move forward.

    CONGRATULATIONS to SEMI-FINALISTS for the 2018 DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards:

    • Mara Gan – Joined
    • Dan Morales – The Scouts of St. Michael Operation Archangel
    • Robert Wright Jr – Unwanted
    • Alexander Edlund – Keelic and the Pathfinders
    • KB Shaw – From the Shadows
    • Tom Edwards – The Honourable Catherine
    • Carmela A. Martino – Playing by Heart
    • Gina Detwiler  – Forlorn
    • Cheryl G. Bostrom – Climb, Run, Drown
    • Alex Paul – Tookan Attack
    • Lynn Yvonne Moon – Whispers
    • Tiffany Brooks – Reality Gold
    • Andrea and William Vaughan – 2nd Gen
    • Molly Lazer – Owl Eyes: A Fairy Tale
    • Jacinta Jade – Change of Chaos
    • Chuck Vance – Sneaking Out
    • Andrea Murray – Something New
    • Susan Faw – Soul Sacrifice
    • Sarah Mendivel – Sam’s Theory
    • Christy Nicholas – The Enchanted Swans   
    • Jennifer Alsever – Ember Burning: Trinity Forest Book 1

    All Short Listers and SemiFinalists will receive high visibility along with special badges to wear during the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala.

    Grand Prize Ribbons!

    Good Luck to each of you as your works competes for the 2018 Dante Rossetti  Book Awards First Place category positions and the Dante Rossetti 2018 Grand Prize.  

    To view the 2017 Rossetti Book Awards winners, please click here.

    The Dante Rossetti Grand Prize Winner and the seven First Place Category Position award winners will be announced at the April 27th, 2019 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash. 

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2019 Dante Rossetti Book Awards writing competition. The deadline for submissions is May 30th, 2019. Please click here for more information. 

    As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com. 

  • OZMA Book Awards (CIBAs) for Fantasy Fiction – the 2018 Long List

    OZMA Book Awards (CIBAs) for Fantasy Fiction – the 2018 Long List

    The OZMA Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of  Fantasy Fiction. The OZMA Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The #CIBAs).

     

    Information about the #CIBAs Long Lists and Short Lists and Announcement Rounds.

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2018 Long List (aka the Slush Pile Survivors). We incorporate the Long List when the judges request an additional round of judging to accommodate the number and/or quality of entries received.  These entries are now in competition for the 2018 OZMA SHORT LIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions.

    The coveted First  Place Category Winners of the 2018 OZMA Book Awards will be selected from the Semi-Finalists in the final rounds of judging.  The First Place Category Winners will be announced at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony. 

    The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the OZMA GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition.  The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington.

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2018 OZMA Book Awards novel competition for Fantasy Fiction.

    The following works have made it to the 2018  OZMA Book Awards Long List:

    • Pamela LePage – Virtuous Souls
    • J.V. Rutz – The Illusion Killer
    • Megan Wong – Island Whispers
    • Allan Batchelder – Steel, Blood & Fire
    • Ea Bishop – RAGNAROK: Demon Seed
    • Daryl Ellerbe – The Amazons
    • Kristin Secorsky – Dragon Chosen: The Dragon Riders of Eryieth
    • Paul E. Vaughn – Luminess Legends: Dragon Ascendants
    • Kathleen Neeley – Master None
    • David M. Jarboe – Realm Portals “The Celtic Otherworld”
    • M.K Williams – The Phoenix Chronicles: Alone in the Light
    • Jennifer Allis Provost – Gallowglass
    • T.K. Riggins – Money Jane
    • Susan Faw – Heart Of Shadra
    • Glen Shipherd – Infinity – Rulers
    • Franklin Posner – Suburban Vampire Ragnarok
    • Kim Gjorsoe – Rogue’s Law
    • Nancy Guild Bendall – Nethermost Regained
    • Anthony Nordvik-Nash – Hedda Stein-Sun’s UnRemembered Islands
    • Paul E. Vaughn – Luminess Legends: Dragon Ascendants
    • Nancy Guild Bendall – Nethermost Regained
    • Elana A. Mugdan – Dragon Speaker
    • Elizabeth Crowens – Silent Meridian
    • Lindsay Schopfer – Into the North: A Keltin Moore Adventure
    • M. K. Wiseman – The Kithseeker
    • Miriam Cumming – Namesakes
    • Penny Pearson – A Girl’s Guide to Time Travel
    • Chris Dews – Antler Jinny and the Raven
    • Philip Carlisle – Surviving Eros: Heart of Phire
    • D.M. Cain – A Chronicle of Chaos

    To view the 2017 OZMA Book Awards winners, please click here.

    The OZMA Grand Prize Winner and the First Place Category Position award winners will be announced at the April 27th, 2019 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash. 

    We are now accepting entries into the 2019 OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction. For more information, please click here.

  • The SHAPE of the ATMOSPHERE by Jessica Dainty – Literary, Psychology, Women’s Fiction

    The SHAPE of the ATMOSPHERE by Jessica Dainty – Literary, Psychology, Women’s Fiction

     

    Jessica Dainty’s, The Shape of the Atmosphere is remarkable for its startling realism, its gritty young heroine, and its hopeful conclusion.

    When Gertie’s father and sister are killed in an accident on Gertie’s sixteenth birthday in 1957, she is left with one cherished memory: viewing the heavens with her father on the night of the world-changing Sputnik flight.

    After the funerals, Gertie wounds herself as a way of coping with her inner anguish, after which her alcohol-addicted mother commits her to an insane asylum. Such institutions were considered modern and scientifically advanced for their time, but as author Jessica Dainty frankly depicts, Gertie’s new home is a combination prison and torture chamber. The naïve but intelligent girl soon becomes acquainted with such therapies as immersion in icy cold water and electroshock (both designed to calm the inmates), as she gradually gets to know her fellow patients, the women on Ward 2.

    Gertie observes that some of her companions are not mentally ill at all: one has a speech defect that he is struggling on his own to correct, and another has Down Syndrome. Yet such people – anyone not wanted by family – are consigned to such asylums and often get lost in its labyrinthine system. Gertie slowly gains inner resolve, becomes an advocate for her rights and those of her companions, and starts an in-house newsletter that tells their stories. But when her compositions find their way outside the walls of the asylum, she is forced to take even bolder measures.

    Dainty writes this traumatizing tale as though she’d lived it, so starkly painful and remarkably poignant are her portraits of Gertie and her fellow sufferers. She portrays the doctors as caring only up to a point, mainly interested in maintaining a full house of captive mental “cases” to keep the income rolling in. One staff member is sympathetic toward Gertie, but most are cold and indifferent, strictly allowing only 3-minute bathroom breaks, a single towel at communal shower times, and almost no time spent unmonitored.

    Treatments such as electroshock (Electro Convulsive Therapy, ECT) are performed differently today for the treatment of severe depression, treatment resistant depression, severe mania, catatonia, and agitation and aggression in dementia patients (Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/electroconvulsive-therapy/about/pac-20393894), for example. But today, this treatment is done under general anesthesia and at reduced levels. This was not the case in the 1950s or in Dainty’s harrowing novel. ECT was conducted without any form of anesthesia and often without patient’s consent.

    Reminiscent of the less enlightened times also is the blatantly denigrating attitude shown towards people of color and other minorities. The author’s descriptions of daily life in a mental institution of the 1950s are filled with scenes of mistreatment tantamount to torture. But many readers will find the story inspiring, especially as Gertie, sustained by images of space travel, finds her own stars to aspire to and reaches out to help others. Debut novelist Dainty is a high school teacher with many points of contact with the teens she hopes to engage with this evocative coming-of-age saga.

    The Shape of Atmosphere won First Place in the 2022 Goethe Book Awards for Post-1750s Historical Fiction.

  • The SEMI-FINALISTS for the 2018 GOETHE BOOK AWARDS for Post 1750s Historical Fiction

    The SEMI-FINALISTS for the 2018 GOETHE BOOK AWARDS for Post 1750s Historical Fiction

    Post 1750s Historical Fiction AwardThe Goethe Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Late Historical Fiction set after the 1750s. The Goethe Book  Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards (#CIBA).

     

     

     

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring Late Period Historical Fiction. Regency, Victorian,18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, World and other wars, history of non-western cultures, set after the 1750s, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (Looking for Chaucer Pre-1750 Book Awards or Laramie Western/Pioneer/Civil War Book Awards, just click on the links.)

    These Semi-Finalists will compete for the coveted five positions of the First  Place Category Winners of the 2018 GOETHE Book Awards in the final rounds of judging.  The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the Goethe GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition.  The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington.

    These titles are in the running for the limited First Place positions of the 2018 GOETHE Book Awards novel competition for post-1750s Post Historical Novels.

    All Semi-Finalists will be recognized at the 2019 Chanticleer Authors Conference and CIBA Banquet & Ceremony.

    Good luck to all in these next final rounds of judging to see which titles will move forward.

    CONGRATULATIONS to:

    • Carol M. Cram – The Muse of Fire
    • J.L. Oakley – Mist-chi-mas: A Novel of Captivity
    • J. R. Collins – Living Where the Rabbits Dance
    • Jocelyn Cullity – Amah & the Silk-Winged Pigeons
    • Ellen Notbohm – The River by Starlight
    • Richard Alan –  A Female Doctor in the Civil War 
    • Josanna Thompson – A Maiden’s Honor
    • Rosalind Spitzer – Anna’s Home
    • Jeffrey K. Walker – None of Us the Same
    • Ronald E. Yates – The Lost Years of Billy Battles (Book 3, Finding Billy Battles Trilogy)
    • Kit Sergeant – 355: The Women of Washington’s Spy Ring
    • R. S. Rowland – Portrait of a Bitter Spy
    • Ruth Hull Chatlien – Blood Moon: A Captive’s Tale
    • John Hansen – Unfortunate Words
    • Patricia Suprenant – Behind the Scarlet Letter
    • Michelle Cox – A Promise Given 
    • Tom Edwards – Jane Sinclair
    • K. M. Sandrick – The Pear Tree

    All Short Listers and SemiFinalists will receive high visibility along with special badges to wear during the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala.

    Good Luck to each of you as your works competes for the 2018 GOETHE  Book Awards First Place positions and the Goethe 2018 Grand Prize.  

    To view the 2017 Goethe Book Awards winners, please click here.

    The Goethe Grand Prize Winner and the First Place Category Position award winners will be announced at the April 27th, 2019 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash. 

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2019 GOETHE Book Awards writing competition. The deadline for submissions is June 30th, 2019. Please click here for more information. 

    As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com. 

  • CYBER SALE November 26 ending at Midnight, Saturday, December 1st, 2018 – Six Days only! 

    CYBER SALE November 26 ending at Midnight, Saturday, December 1st, 2018 – Six Days only! 

    We at Chanticleer Reviews are grateful for YOU, our Dear Writers and Readers! 

    Starting on CYBER MONDAY, November 26 ending at Midnight, Saturday, December 1st,  2018 – Six days only! 

    We are offering a $100 discount on ANY 2019 Chanticleer Authors Conference package for 6 days only! 

    This is a LIMITED OFFER and will end at Midnight, Saturday, December 1st, 2018. Firm. 

    • This outstanding offer will not be repeated!
    • Seating is Limited for CAC19 and for the Master Class Modules.
    • Don’t delay. Register TODAY and take advantage of this limited offer for a limited time.

     

    J.D. Barker – Master of Suspense, Scott Steindorff  A-List America Film producer, ChrisMottes, Audiobooks & Podcaster expert, Jessica Morrell – Top Tier Editor, and others to present! Click here to read more about CAC19 presenters. 

     

     The FULL All-Inclusive CAC19 Conference Package with Discount Code is $425! WOW!   until December 1st, 2018.

    USE THIS DISCOUNT CODE>>>    BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    • 3 full days of sessions
    • 3 luncheons with keynote presentations
    • KaffeeKlatches
    • 3-month trial from Hindenburg Systems (audiobooks or podcast system) $$
    • CIBA Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday Evening
    • 2 cocktail parties (cash bar, appetizers provided) on Friday and Saturday evenings
    • Coffee and Tea
    • Book Fair participation on Saturday & Sunday
    • Workshops taught by Audiobook and Podcast Expert, Chris Mottes
      • Each workshop attendee will receive a 6-month license from Hindenburg Systems $$$
    • Log-lines and Pitching Sessions on Sunday
    • Networking Opportunities  and Fun Raffles
    • Plus $25 discount on Master Class Modules – $50 discount for both!

    CLICK BELOW TO REGISTER and USE the Thanksgiving Discount Code:  BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    Without Thanksgiving CYBER Discount Code $525 — with Discount Code $425 until December 1st, 2018. 

    This is the BEST DEAL! 

    3 Day CAC19 Pass without Banquet and Ceremony with the $100 Discount Code is $325 until December 1st, 2018. 

    USE THIS DISCOUNT CODE>>>    BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    • 3 full days of sessions
    • 3 luncheons with keynote presentations
    • KaffeeKlatches
    • 3-month trial from Hindenburg Systems (audiobooks or podcast system) $$
    • Coffee and Tea
    • Friday Cocktail Party
    • Book Fair participation on Saturday & Sunday
    • Workshops taught by Audiobook and Podcast Expert, Chris Mottes
      • Each workshop attendee will receive a 6-month license from Hindenburg Systems $$$
    • Log-lines and Pitching Sessions on Sunday
    • Networking Opportunities  and Fun Raffles
    • Plus $25 discount on a Master Class Module – $50 discount for both!

    CLICK BELOW TO REGISTER and USE the Thanksgiving Discount Code:  BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    Without Thanksgiving CYBER Discount Code $425 — with Discount Code $325 until December 1st, 2018. 

    Saturday and Sunday 2-Day Pass – including Awards Banquet and Ceremony and Book Room with the $100 Discount Code is $295.00 until December 1st, 2018. 

    USE THIS DISCOUNT CODE>>>    BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    • 2 full days of sessions
    • 2 luncheons with keynote presentations
    • KaffeeKlatches
    • 3-month trial from Hindenburg Systems (audiobooks or podcast system) $$
    • CIBA Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday Evening
    • 1 cocktail parties (cash bar, appetizers provided) on  Saturday
    • Coffee and Tea
    • Book Fair participation on Saturday & Sunday
    • Workshops taught by Audiobook and Podcast Expert, Chris Mottes
      • Each workshop attendee will receive a 6-month license from Hindenburg Systems $$$
    • Log-lines and Pitching Sessions on Sunday
    • Networking Opportunities  and Fun Raffles
    • Plus $25 discount on Master Class Modules -$50 discount for both!

    CLICK BELOW TO REGISTER and USE the Thanksgiving Discount Code:  BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    Without Thanksgiving CYBER Discount Code $395 — with Discount Code $295 until December 1st, 2018.  

    Saturday and Sunday Pass & Book Room – NO Banquet and Awards Ceremony  with the $100 Discount Code is $250.00 until December 1st, 2018. 

    USE THIS DISCOUNT CODE>>>    BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    • 2 full days of sessions
    • 2 luncheons with keynote presentations
    • KaffeeKlatches
    • 3-month trial from Hindenburg Systems (audiobooks or podcast system) $$
    • Coffee and Tea
    • Book Fair participation on Saturday & Sunday
    • Workshops taught by Audiobook and Podcast Expert, Chris Mottes
      • Each workshop attendee will receive a 6-month license from Hindenburg Systems $$$
    • Log-lines and Pitching Sessions on Sunday
    • Networking Opportunities  and Fun Raffles
    • Plus $25 discount on Master Class Modules -$50 discount for both!

    CLICK BELOW TO REGISTER and USE the Thanksgiving Discount Code:  BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    Without Thanksgiving CYBER Discount Code $350 — with Discount Code:  $250 until December 1, 2018.

     

    CAC19 SATURDAY Only Pass – including Awards Banquet and Ceremony with the $100 Discount Code is $195 until December 1st, 2018. 

    USE THIS DISCOUNT CODE>>>    BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    • Saturday Sessions
    • 1 luncheon with the keynote presentation
    • KaffeeKlatches
    • 3-month trial from Hindenburg Systems (audiobooks or podcast system) $$
    • CIBA Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday Evening
    • 1 cocktail party (cash bar, appetizers provided) on  Saturday
    • Coffee and Tea
    • Workshops taught by Audiobook and Podcast Expert, Chris Mottes
      • Each workshop attendee will receive a 6-month license from Hindenburg Systems $$$
    • Networking Opportunities  and Fun Raffles
    • Plus $25 discount on Master Class Modules held on Thursday -$50 discount for both!
      • Note: Book Fair participation is not included in the Saturday Only Pass
      • Note: Log-lines and Pitching Sessions are not included.

    CLICK BELOW TO REGISTER and USE the Thanksgiving Discount Code:  BESTCAC19DEALEVER

    Without Thanksgiving CYBER Discount Code $295 — with Discount Code $195 until December 1st, 2018. 

    This outstanding CYBER DISCOUNT OFFER will not be repeated! And is limited.

    Seating is limited for CAC19 and for the Master Class Modules.  When we are out we are out.

    Don’t delay. Register TODAY and take advantage of this limited offer for a limited time.

    Offer ends Saturday, December 1st at Midnight.

    Read what past CAC attendees say about the Chanticleer Authors Conference below.

    I wanted to say thank you for creating such a fabulous event. This was by far the most productive conference I have ever attended! Each workshop was packed with valuable information to help every author on their path to publication, no matter what their genre or where they are in their writing career. I look forward to attending next year! 

    All the best,  Kim Davis A Game of Deceit

    This conference and award dinner is the best I’ve ever attended. The conference showcased well-known authors and editors, and in each session, I learned something new that will help my writing. And the Awards Dinner! I can’t say enough about it. It was fantastic. Like attending the Oscars. Everything – all weekend – was so well done and thought out and ran so smoothly, you’d think Chanticleer had an army of 100 working for them. All of this against a beautiful water view setting in Bellingham, Washington. By far, the most fun I’ve ever had at a conference, and considering all the sessions, lunches, and dinners, etc., a great value.

    Thank you! Elaine Williams Crockett

    Thank you so much for all your work setting up the Chanticleer organization. Winning a Grand prize means more to me than I can express. I feel like a lottery winner. It’s a life-changing award that I expect will propel my new career.

    Again, thank you! Avanti Centrae

    I continue to be thrilled at the support and recognition from Chanticleer Reviews. I made two very good friends at the conference, and I learned valuable information, nitty-gritty stuff, that’s available nowhere else. What a class act! 

    PJ Devlin

    Many thanks for providing this wonderful opportunity to enable one’s book to reach higher in the eyes of the reading public. 

    Cheers and best, Prue Batten

    You continue to do a massive job so well. Congratulations on the growing success and reputation of the awards. And please extend my appreciation to your team. 

    Warm wishes, Elisabeth Storrs, HNS Australiasia

    Many thanks for the amazing conference, the wonderful sessions and guest speakers and the fabulous awards night. We had such fun, learnt a great deal and made some special friendships. 

    Catherine Wilsons (A & T) – Australia 

    Chanticleer is Awesome! 

    Kari Rhyan 

    I really want to thank you again for the incredible event last month. The Chanticleer community is very welcoming, and I’m happy to be a part of it! 

    TK RIGGINS

    My 10 second elevator pitch for why submit in a Chanticleer contest is quoting from Cool Hand Luke where he says, “Only Bastards and Cream rise to the top.” If you submit to Chanticleer you at least can find out whether your book has the potential of becoming cream. Your contest is open and inclusive, an admirable goal for writers and society as a whole. … And once again, thank you so so much for putting on this conference. I am telling my writer friends to submit and to plan on attending CAC2019.

     Alex Paul

    Thank you so much for this amazing honor! It was truly a surreal and amazing moment to win. Still can barely believe it! Definitely one I’ll never forget! I’m so grateful to you and everyone that makes Chanticleer possible. I’ve never met a more dedicated, supportive group of book lovers. I will happily come to the conference next year to present and participate. Can’t wait.

    Michelle Rene, HOUR GLASS

    and there are more testimonials for CAC!

     

Chanticleer Book Reviews